Fun route taking the Southeast Ridge up. Not a single other person, bright blue sky and absolutely no wind. Taking the East Slope Trail down was another story. 50+ people, strong winds and monotonous trail. Should of traversed to Paiute to avoid the crowds. At least I will know next time. Overall, a perfect day to spend the Fourth of July.

An easy ascent via East Slopes, no snowshoes necessary. When you reach the saddle between Audubon and "Notabon", take a peek over the edge to the Coney Lakes basin below. It's a spectacular sight. Watch out for the wind that comes screaming up from the basin, however. I almost got knocked back onto my butt! (I attempted to climb Audubon in May via this basin, but the snow was too deep w/the long approach I had) A glissade down Crooked Couloir, described as "very steep gully" in the route description, is highly recommended if snow conditions permit. Be sure you have an ax to control speed on this one, it is very steep, and is almost 2,000 vertical feet! We probably could have put on our snowshoes when down in the basin, as the snow was pretty soft at 11am and still very deep. Snowshoes will be unnecessary in a few weeks... A great route all-around.

I've been on this ridge three times. Weather turned me back at the notch the first time-I quickly descended into the east face cirque to dump altitude. Second time was the charm. Snow helps make this route easier, covering the scree and talus down low, and allows a quick descent/ascent of the south facing couloir into the notch if you're so inclined. The 'Headwall' out of the notch was mostly turf on my June, 20 ascent. Third attempt exceeded my partner's comfort level at the notch. Bring a rope to rap if you're worried about this notorious downclimb, although I went without on all my attempts. Also ascended from Paiute's connecting ridge in September?, 2004. Simple third class scramble, with insane wind.

After an uneventful approach thru the trees on top of frozen snow, we hiked the snowfields and trail up the eastern slopes. On the descent we had a few nice glissades, but once back into the trees, we lost the trail, plunged to our knees constantly in the afternoon melted snow, and plugged our way back to the raod closure.

What a wonderfull day. We summited from a camp above Mitchel Lake at 10,875. 3+ hours to the summit, where there was a light wind, and sunny skies. Awsome views! Slog back to the winter gate closure was tiring with full packs.

Climbed with Georg Betsy on a beautiful, clear day with only variable winds (contrary to forecasts). Amazing views all around, but a bad day for altitude--I recently moved from WA. Sick and lethargic towards the summit and pretty much the whole way out. Some navigational challenges orienteering our way back to the lake, made even more fun (can you hear the irony?) by deep, deep snow in the woods to plod through. Despite being sick, a great trip.

Route Climbed: South East Ridge, descent by East Slopes Date Climbed: October 10, 2004

Very direct, strenuous tallus climb with exciting exposure near the top. Not as bad as the North Ridge of Neva, but the crux notch is certainly greater than third class, especially with 8" of snow. Summit view is spectacular and well worth the effort. Great trip in fantastic fall weather.

No summit register and no USGS marker (that I could find) but the disappointment stops there. Awesome, swathing (is that a word?) view of pretty much all of southern RMNP plus Longs' south face, the Never Summer Range, Lake Granby, and the spiky northern Indian Peaks. This is a popular place, but patience rewarded me with some quality solo-summit time. Next time I bring a buddy and we try the Paiute-Audubon Traverse, it looks airy and exciting!